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What's the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher?

An economist at Stanford has drawn the following conclusions:

The students of a very bad teacher will learn, on average, half a year’s worth of material in one school year. The students in the class of a very good teacher will learn a year and a half’s worth of material.

Teacher effects dwarf school effects: your child is actually better off in a “bad” school with an excellent teacher than in an excellent school with a bad teacher. Teacher effects are also much stronger than class-size effects. You’d have to cut the average class almost in half to get the same boost that you’d get if you switched from an average teacher to a teacher in the eighty-fifth percentile. And remember that a good teacher costs as much as an average one, whereas halving class size would require that you build twice as many classrooms and hire twice as many teachers.

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." Albert Einstein
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"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." Albert Einstein
"If your worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on" Lance Armstrong
"Dress cute wherever you go, life is too short to blend in." Paris Hilton
"Money is one of the greatest instruments of freedom ever invented by man." F.A. Hayek

Re: What's the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher?

Please don't get me started on teacher pay. You want good teachers? Pay them what they are worth. You are right, a good teacher can handle a larger class and get them to learn. The problem is, who would want to be a teacher given their salary? Make the salary competitive with other fields. The cream will rise to the top.

Re: What's the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher?

Originally Posted by wolverine68

Please don't get me started on teacher pay. You want good teachers? Pay them what they are worth. You are right, a good teacher can handle a larger class and get them to learn. The problem is, who would want to be a teacher given their salary? Make the salary competitive with other fields. The cream will rise to the top.

Yeah but you are going to be paying a whole bunch of bad teachers a whole lot of money.

I'm all for 6 figure salaries for high performers. That will NEVER happen as long as the NEA is in charge, though. Even rating teachers is a touchy subject, let alone tying benefits to performance as opposed to, say, tenure.

"Homemade beer, after all, is like a democracy. Every so often, you’re gonna hate what comes out of it. But when it’s good, it’s the best." - woot.com

Re: What's the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher?

Originally Posted by alaskaguy

An economist at Stanford has drawn the following conclusions:

The students of a very bad teacher will learn, on average, half a year’s worth of material in one school year. The students in the class of a very good teacher will learn a year and a half’s worth of material.

Teacher effects dwarf school effects: your child is actually better off in a “bad” school with an excellent teacher than in an excellent school with a bad teacher. Teacher effects are also much stronger than class-size effects. You’d have to cut the average class almost in half to get the same boost that you’d get if you switched from an average teacher to a teacher in the eighty-fifth percentile. And remember that a good teacher costs as much as an average one, whereas halving class size would require that you build twice as many classrooms and hire twice as many teachers.

Re: What's the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher?

A good teacher can make a lifetime's worth of difference in a students life. My oldest daughter is a testament to that. She used to be a little aprehensive about school until she went into 2nd grade and got a motivated teacher who turned her into a kid who couldn't wait to get to school. She had her two years ago and she still makes time to see how her former students, and their family for that matter, are doing.

Re: What's the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher?

Originally Posted by wolverine68

Please don't get me started on teacher pay. You want good teachers? Pay them what they are worth. You are right, a good teacher can handle a larger class and get them to learn. The problem is, who would want to be a teacher given their salary? Make the salary competitive with other fields. The cream will rise to the top.

One could argue that the low salary actually strengthens the pool of talent. Only people with a true passion for the profession and care for students would stand for such monetary compensation, while they take satisfaction in intangible means. It keeps those in the field genuine.

That said, I don't fully buy that logic and completely agree that those in education need to be rewarded with higher wages. But for the sake of being devil's advocate...

Re: What's the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher?

Originally Posted by Stumpy

One could argue that the low salary actually strengthens the pool of talent. Only people with a true passion for the profession and care for students would stand for such monetary compensation, while they take satisfaction in intangible means. It keeps those in the field genuine.

That said, I don't fully buy that logic and completely agree that those in education need to be rewarded with higher wages. But for the sake of being devil's advocate...

How about those who excel in education need to be rewarded with higher wages?

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